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Host is looking for help immediately
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
19 Feb 2026
Reply rate
100.0 %
Usually responds within 11 days
Feedback
40
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Details
Description
We are looking to teach some workaway folk remodeling skills.
I am a retired car mechanic and master builder from Iceland. My wife and I bought an old house in Bulgaria in 2018 to retire in the sun. My wife is originally from Scotland and has not fully retired yet so she is jumping back and forth from Bulgaria to Iceland. Our 4 grown children and 4 grandchildren currently live in Iceland.
Both my wife and I speak fluent English and Icelandic, her Icelandic needs improving :) I have a lot of experience with house renovation and car mechanics but my bad health has reduced me to just being able to teach young folk these skills.
My health is getting worse so often I can't do anything but I can teach you how to do the work and supervise. I have been teaching many workaway folk various mechanical and remodeling skills.
Pauline is also disabled with rheumatoid arthritis but on good days she does some work building a platform to help women thrive through their menopause and beyond. She is using Kajabi to host her website and is making an online course. She is also hosting a menopause podcast, so any help with such online stuff would be appreciated. Pauline is not a techie and is always looking to learn new tech things from our workaway visitors. One of the workwayers taught her how to use Instagram :)
There is also a big garden, so if you are interested in doing gardening chores that is possible. We have been working on landscaping the garden but neither of us has much experience with gardening.
We are quite interested in hosting Bulgarians so that we can learn more of the language :) We love to welcome folk from all over the world and learn about their culture and share our cultures. We have a Spanish guitar and an electric piano that you are welcome to use.
We currently have 2 adult cats Lady and No Name, who live in the garden and a young dog Mister that lives part time in the house.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Language practice
Elderly Companionship
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
House & pet sitting
Interests
Movies & TV
Technology
Sustainability
Self development
Politics / Social justice
Pets
Events & social
Culture
Charity work
Music
Performing arts
Languages
Gardening
DIY & crafts
Drawing & painting
Yoga / Wellness
Cycling
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
You can improve your English, and even learn Icelandic :) We live near Plovdiv which was the European city of culture in 2019. Both Plovdiv and Hisaria (Our town of Kaloyanovo is 30 min from Plovdiv and 15 mins from Hisaria) have vast Roman remains and Hisaria has a lot of hot natural spring water, so we try to go to one of the spa's there when we can. You are welcome to come with us to that, we pay :)
My wife Pauline is an oil painter and one of the rooms upstairs will eventually be her art studio after she has made the video course about menopause. You are welcome to try your hand at painting and if she is here, she will be more than happy to teach you. We are not vegan but have hosted many vegan's in the past. Pauline is in the process of reducing her meat intake and is interested in more vegetarian meals.
Help
Tryggvi has been teaching car mechanics and house remodeling for many years and enjoys teaching young folk these skills. Landscaping the garden, this we are learning ourselves. If you have experience in gardening, perhaps you can teach us :) Tryggvi and Pauline's health are quite bad so often there is no specific schedule, especially in the summer when Pauline is back in Iceland. There will be a lot of spare time for you to do your own projects. Often Tryggvi does not wake up until the afternoon. Feeding the cats and dog and taking the dog for long walks. Training the dog if you know how to do this. Cooking meals and washing dishes. We have a cleaner who comes in twice a month who does the heavy cleaning.
Pauline is working on making an online course to help women thrive through their menopause and beyond. If you have any computer tech skills or marketing or social media skill that would be greatly appreciated :)
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Icelandic: Fluent
Bulgarian: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
We always try to learn a bit of the language of our workaway friends and Tryggvi loves to teach Icelandic and Pauline as a native English speaker is happy to help you improve your English.
Accommodation
Large room on ground floor of the house. It contains a double bed. So we are open to having a single person or a couple. In the photos you can see the room on the ground floor, the one with a yellow wall.
What else ...
We will provide all meals (sometimes we go to restaurants) and we currently have 3 vehicles, 2 cars and a big van. So it will be possible to borrow one of the vehicles if you wish to travel around Bulgaria on your days off. We prefer non smokers.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have good WiFi and a desk for working online. We have often had digital nomads with us. We are very flexible with work times.
Space for parking camper vans
Any size. You can park in our driveway/garden or out on the street, whichever you wish.
Can possibly accept pets
We have cats and a young dog, You can bring your cat or dog if you like. If it is something exotic like a snake, please let us know first :)
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
My animals / pets
Lady, No-name and Ewok
All our cats are rescues so we don't know their date of birth.
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback (13)
Thanks for your hospitality and exchange.;)
Photos
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback
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Accuracy of profile:
(4.9)
Cultural exchange:
(4.8)
Communication:
(4.9)
Thanks for your hospitality and exchange.;)
They are both… read more
Pauline always made sure that we had everything we needed and went above and beyond to make sure that we were… read more
Each lunchtime we went to a local workers cafe and had wonderful Bulgarian food. The kitchen at home and all food was… read more
Jonathan was helping with the renovation work with filling between gyps boards and sanding walls, painting walls, putting up ceiling boards including cutting wood and he also did some gardening on the sunny days, cutting grass and pulling weeds.
Kariah helped me with… read more
Tryggvi is such a nice person with a lot of interesting stories to tell. It… read more
Their kitchen is well-stocked, the bedroom is super-comfy, and you can always count on Tryggvi to share a beer with you after the work is… read more
Our hosts were exceptionally… read more
